HARARE, April 20: Veteran English sports columnist Mihir Bose was expelled from Zimbabwe on Tuesday just a day after arriving in the country to cover the Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka cricket series.

The Daily Telegraph writer was told he had applied too late for accreditation amd would have to leave the country as he had violated visa regulations - he was put on a plane to Johannesburg on Tuesday morning.

Bose put his expulsion down to President Robert Mugabe's hatred of British citizens - the former colonial power that has been one of his fiercest critics over his seizure of white-owned farms and handing them over to black veterans of the civil war which led to independence in 1980.

"I arrived on Monday afternoon to write about the cricket," Bose told Sky News from Johannesburg. "Zimbabwean cricket is of course going through a crisis and England are due to tour here later in the year.

"On Monday evening immigration officers came to my hotel and told me to leave as they said I had applied for media accreditation too late and therefore I had contravened visa regulations. "I was escorted to the airport on Tuesday morning and left for Johannesburg.

"So I was late with my accreditation, so were others but they were allowed to remain in the country. "I have done that (been late seeking accreditation) before at many other events including the recent Pakistan and India series - it seems the Zimbabwean Cricket Union (ZCU) weren't going to accept that.

"I think there are two reasons for my expulsion. I am a British passport holder and Mugabe has a hatred of the British. Also they must have thought I would talk to others in the country who are not friendly towards the regime." -AFP